Merrimack College has lost five straight games and seven of its last eight. The Warriors have only seven victories overall this year and they dwell in the basement of Hockey East with a 2-12-2 record.

Yet the numbers that matter most this weekend when No. 16 Vermont visits Lawler Arena are 0-9-3 and 0-5-1.

The first is UVM's record against Merrimack in the last 12 meetings of the Hockey East rivals. The second set reflects the Catamounts' lack of success on the Warriors' ice.

"We've struggled there since I've been here," said UVM co-captain H.T. Lenz of Lawler Arena this week as Vermont sought to forget a lost home weekend against Boston College. "They've had a bit of a rough season but we know they'll be hungry especially since a lot of our guys have been through seasons like they're having."

As it turns out, not even fifth-year senior Chris McCarthy can say he played for a UVM team that defeated Merrimack at any time anywhere. This time around the Catamounts desperately need a sweep of the Warriors to have any chance of reaching .500 in the final regular-season weekend at home against UMass-Lowell.

"The best thing I would say is we talk about every game is a playoff game and as we go into these weekends … it's a do-or-die mentality," said UVM coach Kevin Sneddon. "At the same time, it's dangerous to start looking at the four games as a clump and to say we have to win all those four games.

"What we have to do is win the first period Friday night. We have to be the best we can be to start the game against Merrimack and then we'll worry about our next shift," he said.

The Catamounts (15-11-3; 7-9-0) are tied for seventh with Notre Dame, two points behind Providence, five shy of Northeastern and six away from Maine and New Hampshire, who are tied for third. The top five teams earn first-round playoff byes with those finishing 6-7-8 playing host to first-round games. The top four will be the host teams for Hockey East quarterfinals.

The Warriors are 6-5-0 overall at home and 2-4-0 in league play.

"Every time we go to play there, we know it's going to be a battle," junior defenseman Mike Paliotta said. "Guys are going to have to battle, complete, win loose pucks and be able to compete in the corners because that's where the game's played (with) a lot of wall play, getting pucks in and out of the zone."

"They play their rink very, very well," Sneddon said. "They're going to come at us. It's going to be physical and it's going to be a grind-it-out weekend. I don't think it's going to be as much transition-based hockey as we've seen over the past couple of weekends but they have some excellent players as well."

Ice chips: As of mid-week, Sneddon said he did not know whether freshman Mike Santaguida or sophomore Brody Hoffman would start in goal. Santaguida has started five straight … "I know Mike was disappointed in the results (vs. BC)," Sneddon said. "We'll evaluate and see what we feel is best for this team going into this weekend. The door is open a little bit and it's important that we have two guys competing hard for it." … Sr F Mike Collins (9-11-20) and Fr F Chris LeBlanc (6-6-12) lead MC in scoring … Sr F Chris McCarthy (15-18-33) and Fr F Mario Puskarich (14-14-28) lead the UVM offense … Puskarich's 14 goals are the most by a UVM freshman since Eric Perrin scored 24 in 1993-94, tying the freshman record set by Ted Castle (1971-72). Martin St. Louis scored 15 as a freshman in '93-94 … Puskarich's 28 points are the most by a UVM freshman since Torrey Mitchell collected 30 in 2004-05 …

Correspondent Ted Ryan covers UVM hockey for The Free Press. Contact him at TedRyanVT@aol.com and follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TedRyanVT